AN ABSTRACT OF A TREATISE OF HUMAN NATURE 1740  by David Hume Edited by John Maynard Keynes & Piero Sraffa ___________________________________________________________   ABOUT THIS BOOK Red cloth boards in nice condition with gilt title on spine. Bookseller's sticker on front paste-down, and previous owner's bookplate on ffep. Lovely clean condition throughout. Although the book did not sell well on its release, it became one of the key texts of the Enlightenment. It was especially known for its argument that human knowledge is based on direct experience and observation—a school of philosophy known as empiricism—and that human behavior is not based on reason, but on emotions.   Hume devided this into three books. Book 1 is titled “On The Understanding.” The focus is on the fundamentals of not just how people learn, but how they process the world around them and their own thoughts and attitudes. Hume argues that we develop ideas based on our impressions which come out of our physical senses like sight and hearing. More complex ideas form out of the associations between different ideas and impressions. From these associations, Hume argues we develop all sorts of concepts, from imaginary creatures to belief in cause and effect. We ultimately cannot be absolutely certain in what we know about the world outside our own minds or have much trust even in cause and effect, but we can draw fairly reliable conclusions from repeated observation, not from abstract reasoning and logic. In the next book “Of The Passions” Hume discusses how ideas lead into emotions, or what Hume calls “passions”. The passions likewise all originate from our experiences and ideas, specifically our sensations of pleasure or pain (which Hume also calls good or evil). The more vivid the ideas they are based on, the more powerful the passions. Finally, in the third book, “Of Morals,” Hume goes further, saying that our ideas of vice and virtue spring from our ideas and our passions. Our ideas of vice and virtue can be traced back to our ideas about our own self-interest and our social relations.   Please check pictures and don't hesitate to ask if you have any queries!   145